Protective glove



Dec.- 2, 1958 F. J. CASTRO PROTECTIVE GLOVE Filed Dec. 17, 1957 INVENTOR FERNANDO J CASTRO ATTORNEYS United States Patent PROTECTIVE GLOVE Fernando J. Castro, San Juan, Puerto Rico, assignor to the People of Puerto Rico Application December 17, 1957, Serial No. 703,354

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-161) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 643,955, now abandoned, filed March 5, 1957, for Protective Glove.

This invention relates to gloves and, more particularly, to gloves which are worn by industrial and agricultural workers for the protection of their hands from injury. The glove provided by this invention is particularly intended and constructed to be used by workers when cutting stalk crops, such as sugar cane, corn and the like. In cutting such crops the stalk is grasped by one hand and the cutting is performed by a machete or the like swung by the other hand and arm. In this cutting operation there is great danger to the hand which grasps the stalk and it is necessary to provide protection to it.

The principal object of the invention has therefore been to provide a protective glove which is worn on the hand which grasps the stalk during the cutting operation, which will provide complete protection to those parts of the hand requiring protection, which will be light in Weight and very flexible in order to permit unrestricted use of the hand, and which may be easily and cheaply manufactured.

A glove formed in accordance with the invention is described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the back of the glove with parts broken away to show parts of the protective means provided by the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the front, or palm, side of the glove, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

The glove provided by this invention and as illustrated in the drawing, comprises a hand covering part 2 having back and front parts 4, 6, four finger parts 8a 8b, 8c and 3a which, respectively, enclose the fingers beginning with the index finger, a thumb part 10 and a wrist covering part 12 having back and front parts 14, 16. The wrist part 12 is comewhat flared, in the manner of a gauntlet,

in order to facilitate the introduction of the hand into the glove, and snap-button means 18 are provided adjacent one side of the wrist part of the glove which may be fastened together, after the hand is within the glove, to snugly engage the wrist of the wearer and thus prevent the glove from falling off when in use. The glove illustrated in the drawings is for the left hand and, when in use, the left hand with the glove on it grasps the stalk of a plant with the thumb down and at a point above the part of the stalk which will be cut.

Means are provided by the invention for protecting those parts of the hand which are vulnerable to the machete when it is swung against the stalk and such means comprise, first, a supplemental cover member 20, which may be formed of the same material as the glove and which is superimposed on parts of the glove, covering the backs of the index and middle finger parts 8a, 8b and the backs of those parts of the hand and wrist parts 2, 12 of the glove which are aligned with and below the finger parts 812, 8b. The supplemental cover also extends around the thumb part of the glove, from the back part thereof, to the juncture of the thumb part and the palm part 6 of the glove. This cover member 20 is sewed to the glove about its periphery, as shown at 22, and is also sewed to the glove by elongated, parallel lines of stitching 24 which, at the back of the glove, extend from the outer extremities of the finger parts 8a, 8b to the bottom edge of the wrist part 12 and, on the thumb part 10 of the glove, extend from the outer extremity of the thumb part to the bottom edge of the wrist part of the glove. These lines of stitching 24 define between them spaced, parallel, open, elongated passages 30 and within each of these passages there is disposed an elongated, flexible, protective member 32 which is formed of hard metal or some other material able to withstand the heavy blow of a knife or machete. In the preferred form of the invention shown in the drawings these protective members are metallic chains. The passages 30 are closed at their ends by the peripheral stitching 22 to prevent accidental removal of the chains.

It will be seen that when the glove is on the hand and the button 18 is snapped to fastened position, as shown in Fig. 3, the glove cannot fall off the hand even though the hand is in a lowered position, as it is held when grasping a stalk which is to be cut. In this position the thumb is below the hand and the backs of the index and middle fingers and the aligned part of the hand and wrist are exposed to the knife or machete as it is swung to cut the stalk. These parts are covered by the protective chains 32 and the supplemental covering 20 and these form a strong and rugged protective covering for the described parts of the hand which are exposed to the knife or machete. The loose positioning of the chains or similar members within the passages 30 permits complete flexibility, whereby the hand and glove may be bent in any way without restriction by the glove and its protective members.

While I have described and illustrated certain forms which my invention may take, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other embodiments, as well as modifications of those disclosed, may be made and practiced without departing in any way from the spirit or scope of the invention, for the limits of which reference must be made to the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A glove for protecting the hand from a swung knife or the like when the gloved hand grasps a stalk or the like which is to be cut, said glove comprising four finger receiving parts, a thumb receiving part, a hand part and a wrist part, a supplemental cover member formed of flexible material covering the back of the two finger receiving parts adjacent the thumb receiving part and also covering the backs of that part of the hand part and that part of the wrist part which are aligned with and below the covered part of the finger receiving parts and also covering substantially the entire thumb receiving part, said cover member being attached to the glove by spaced parallel lines of stitching extending longitudinally of the glove and defining spaced passages therebetween, and an elongated, flexible, metallic, protective member in each of said passages and extending throughout substantially the entire length thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 935,011 Fried Sept. 28, 1909 2,025,357 Pagan Dec. 24, 1935 2,737,663 Harris Mar. 13, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 988,994 France Sept. 3, 1951 

